Individual exercise books were collected by John Hersee and donated to the Mathematical Association in 2004.

There are nearly 300 volumes from 190 authors. The exercise books are mainly concerned with mathematical subjects but some include other subjects such as writing, poetry, music, history, scripture and geography. The range of mathematics is restricted to elementary topics: predominantly arithmetic and mensuration but also some geometry, trigonometry and algebra, and applications, particularly commerce and accounting, but also gauging (excise measurements), surveying and navigation.